It's an Ocean Systems machine, but I figure it's just a rebranded ACME TAP-763. It has a 15 inch 1024x768 screen, a mechanical keyboard with a built-in touchpad, a built-in A/V converter for VGA. The bottom line — it can take any standard ATX motherboard, a standard PSU and any videocard with VGA output. It also weighs 12 KG (just the chassis, screen and keyboards)

The machine originally had an AMD Phenom inside, so I'm pretty sure the original hardware was long gone. Right now I've installed an Intel SE440BX-2 with a Pentium 3/1GHz, a Voodoo 5 and some ISA soundcards. This is going to be my box for LAN parties, so I'm pretty sure I'm going to switch to a Tualatin-based system with GeForce 3/4, but for now it just amuses me that a pretty much "ultimate" DOS/Win9x machine can be lugged around.

There are some issues, though. The case smells like cat piss (it was stored in a garage for a while), so I foolishly rubbed the whole chassis with IPA. That nearly destroyed the rubber coating on the keyboard. Another issue is that the locking mechanism on the keyboard is semi broken. Does anyone know where I could get a replacement keyboard for a TAP-763? 😀

Also there is a dead pixel on the LCD, the power LED connector was modified from 3-pin to 2-pin and there are some cracks and broken screw holes. I'll do a dedicated post with lots of photos once I do some work on the system.

The slim is a good choice. It's easier to mod & play PS1 backups (no fiddling around with a paperclip or eject tool)

The fat Ps2 is more easy to mod. More space inside to do hardware mod. Less anti-mod prevention from Sony (older model). You can add a HDD, using a network adaptor, wich is something you can only do to the V12 slim (as far as I remember). And even then, you need to solder in a ribbon cable and even then you will have to find the space inside.

That said.
Every Ps2 model, up to and not included, the last slim with a glossy strip and internal PSU. Can be soft modded, using Free MC Boot. And even then you need a flip-cover to be able to prevent the eject mecanism to sense that the tray or the lid have been opened.

Going for Free MC Boot, modding the Ps2 game ISO to DVD movie ISO and burn it. You can still use the eject mecanism. As the machine thinks that it is a movie. That however only works on Ps2 games on DVD.

As long as it is not the last slim version, you equal options. The older the machine is, the easier a mod is. And going back to the fat ones, you have an awesomme machine for even a Linux setup with keyboard, internal harddrive, mouse and VGA output. Of course you need to Invest heavy in such a kit. Unless you know enough to use third part stuff. Yup, it is possible.

And yup. Every Ps2 can do Ps1 games. And does a generally better job than a Ps1 at that. Few games are incompatible and you get a better video output signal. Heck... Even a Ps3 does Ps1 games.

Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....

The slim is a good choice. It's easier to mod & play PS1 backups (no fiddling around with a paperclip or eject tool)

The fat Ps2 is more easy to mod. More space inside to do hardware mod. Less anti-mod prevention from Sony (older model). You can add a HDD, using a network adaptor, wich is something you can only do to the V12 slim (as far as I remember). And even then, you need to solder in a ribbon cable and even then you will have to find the space inside.

That said.
Every Ps2 model, up to and not included, the last slim with a glossy strip and internal PSU. Can be soft modded, using Free MC Boot. And even then you need a flip-cover to be able to prevent the eject mecanism to sense that the tray or the lid have been opened.

Going for Free MC Boot, modding the Ps2 game ISO to DVD movie ISO and burn it. You can still use the eject mecanism. As the machine thinks that it is a movie. That however only works on Ps2 games on DVD.

As long as it is not the last slim version, you equal options. The older the machine is, the easier a mod is. And going back to the fat ones, you have an awesomme machine for even a Linux setup with keyboard, internal harddrive, mouse and VGA output. Of course you need to Invest heavy in such a kit. Unless you know enough to use third part stuff. Yup, it is possible.

And yup. Every Ps2 can do Ps1 games. And does a generally better job than a Ps1 at that. Few games are incompatible and you get a better video output signal. Heck... Even a Ps3 does Ps1 games.

There was, for a little while, a company that made the "HD Combo" for the V12 (first-gen) PS2 slims. It gave you some extra cooling fans and a 3.5" HDD bay; made them look like 3/4-scale fatboys! I always wanted to buy one, but never did.

There was, for a little while, a company that made the "HD Combo" for the V12 (first-gen) PS2 slims. It gave you some extra cooling fans and a 3.5" HDD bay; made them look like 3/4-scale fatboys! I always wanted to buy one, but never did.

And yup. Every Ps2 can do Ps1 games. And does a generally better job than a Ps1 at that. Few games are incompatible and you get a better video output signal. Heck... Even a Ps3 does Ps1 games.

Good morning. I think PTherapist was only being specific about the backups being fiddly.

PS1 games also have easy & excellent emulators that are at least PC/Linux. Don't recall about Mac or others just now. Best non-emu is PS2 through Component to your TV /if/ your TV will show a 240p signal. Some do, some don't, regardless of whether it's listed in the specs, so that's a try & see.

To be completist another thing about playing backups is an awful lot of used PS1 are already chip-modded. That was extremely common in the day. Usually a part-timer at a local game or computer shop did conversions for beer money.

And yup. Every Ps2 can do Ps1 games. And does a generally better job than a Ps1 at that. Few games are incompatible and you get a better video output signal. Heck... Even a Ps3 does Ps1 games.

Good morning. I think PTherapist was only being specific about the backups being fiddly.

What I read, was that he said that the slim is a better choice than the fat. And that is not true. Even without flip-top, the fat are a better choice. And without a mod chip, you can not play Ps1 backups without swapmagic.

I have a set of swapmagic and slide card in my collection.

Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....

Yup, me too. Though I moved to using PC emulation to play PS1 backups. ... I haven't updated my mods for ages. I've been presuming by now, surely the PS2 scene would have figured out how to play PS1 games from the HDD. Still not yet?

Yup, me too. Though I moved to using PC emulation to play PS1 backups. ... I haven't updated my mods for ages. I've been presuming by now, surely the PS2 scene would have figured out how to play PS1 games from the HDD. Still not yet?

Perhaps it is now possible. All I know is that they used some code from Crazy Taxi, in order to make Ps2 Backups possible.
There were some talk about making it happen for Ps1 games, using HD-Loader. Yet there were something about hardware trouble.
Something with the way the Ps2 arcitecture was operating. Yet that was a long time ago, that I looked into that.

For the most part. Swapmagic and a slide card are good enough. Sometimes you gotta work before pleasure. 😉
The best option are still a mod chip. No doubt about that.

Don't eat stuff off a 15 year old never cleaned cpu cooler.
Those cakes make you sick....

cool little machine! Apparently hydrogen peroxide works well for removing smell, and it might be safer for plastics than IPA, but don't quote me on that.

What is this DOOM version showing on the screen?

That's Icarus WAD from Team TNT. I really love the "Heart of the Hive" track from the fifth level, particularly using Gravis Ultrasound (with ProPatches Lite) and Yamaha DB50XG. Here's a rendition, but I'm not sure what hardware is used here.

Intensifying my efforts to make the "slightly accidental Pentium 4 build" more quiet.
After equipping the FX 5900 Ultra with a NOS Zalman VF900 Cu, the CPU cooler is up next.
I found a nice Thermalright XP-90 bundled with a 92mm Papst 3412 N/2GLE fan (looks like it has some sort of temperature sensor, too) for 16€ shipped. While it's probably not the best S478 cooler you could possibly get (tower format coolers will outperform it easily and the XP-90C full copper variant would be better too), you sometimes just have to go with what's available for a reasonable price.
So yeah, this will be a big step up from the Intel boxed cooler.

On a different note, I got two Seasonic SS-350ET-F3 power supplies, 17€ shipped (for both).
One of them will go into the Pentium 4 build as well, the other one will probably be stored away for a future build.

I bought one of these DB9-Joystick to USB converter's. The reason is that the new "TheC64" machine, can use old 80's digital joysticks with the use of an adaptor. And I can use the keyboard for navigating the menu. Aaaand.... I always hated ZIP-Stick and Competition PRO sticks.

Basically. It is going to so sweet, to use my The-Arcade or my Wico Command Control with this machine.